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OpenRouter MCP servers: which one to use

Use OpenRouter's own server to look up live models, prices and credits. Pick a community server to call other models from inside Claude or to manage keys.

Servers
26
active
Official
1
by OpenRouter
Hosted
2
nothing to install
Local
20
runs on your machine
OAuth
1
sign in, no key

OpenRouter runs its own hosted MCP server for coding assistants. It looks up live models, prices, rankings and your credit balance, and it can send test messages. It does not replace calling the OpenRouter API from your app. Community servers do different jobs, such as chatting with other models, analyzing images, running research, or managing API keys. Most of them spend your OpenRouter credits, so use a key with a spend limit.

Good for

  • Developers who want Claude Code or Cursor to compare OpenRouter models and prices while they build
  • People who want Claude to ask a second model, or analyze an image with one
  • Teams who need to check credits and manage API keys from an assistant
  • Anyone doing multi-step research across several OpenRouter models

Which OpenRouter MCP server to use

Use OpenRouter's server unless you need to run other models from inside your assistant. For that, pick OpenRouter MCP Multimodal, or openrouter-admin-mcp if you only manage keys and credits.

ServerOfficialRunsSign-inBest forGitHub stars
OpenRouterThis pageOfficialHostedAccountLive model data–
OpenRouter MCP MultimodalCommunityLocalAPI keyChat and images102
openrouter-deep-researchCommunityLocalAPI keyResearch55
rust-openrouter-mcpCommunityLocalAPI keyChat with models2
openrouter-admin-mcpCommunityLocalProvisioning keyKeys and credits0

All OpenRouter MCP servers

26 active · 1 official · official first, then by GitHub stars

Show all 26

Questions

Is there an official OpenRouter MCP server?

Yes. OpenRouter hosts it at https://mcp.openrouter.ai/mcp, and nothing installs locally. You add the address to your client and approve a login in your browser.

What does the official server do?

It looks up live models, prices, your credits, rankings and OpenRouter docs. It can also send a test message to any model and generate an image. OpenRouter says to keep calling the API directly to run models in your app.

Does it spend my credits?

Yes, some tools do. OpenRouter says send-message and generate-image make billable calls. The login creates a dedicated key that expires within 7 days and starts with a $10 spend cap you can change.

Does the official server work in Claude?

Yes. OpenRouter's docs cover Claude Code, Claude Desktop and Claude on the web. It is not in Claude's connector directory, so you add it as a custom connector. Some organizations block custom connectors.

Does it work in Cursor and Codex?

Yes. OpenRouter documents setup for Cursor CLI, Codex CLI and OpenCode, plus Claude Code and Claude Desktop.

Do I need an API key?

Not for the official server, which uses a browser login. The community chat and research servers need an OpenRouter API key. openrouter-admin-mcp needs a Provisioning key, which manages your account but cannot make completion calls.

Can I use a read-only OpenRouter server?

openrouter-admin-mcp is read-only by default, and key creation and deletion stay off until you set an opt-in flag. OpenRouter's own server mostly reads, with two billable tools and one that writes feedback.

Which server lets Claude call other models?

OpenRouter MCP Multimodal lists 21 tools and 300+ models across chat, vision, audio and video. The official server can also send a message to any model, but it is meant for testing prompts.

Is it free?

The community servers are free open source projects. You still pay OpenRouter for any model calls they make, and some models are free to use.

Server facts from the official MCP registry, GitHub, npm, PyPI and the Docker catalog. Archived servers are not listed.